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This year, my family is thankful for the greatest Christmas gift we've ever received. This gift will likely add more years of us being together and it certainly will encourage us all to reach for our goals, and engrain in ourselves that if we put our minds to it, we can accomplish anything.
I'm so proud to share that my Dad has quit smoking, and that it is greatest gift he could ever give me, his family, his friends, his co-workers, everyone who cares about him.
Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, some of which can cause cancer. Smoking increases the risk for serious health problems too.
But you are never too old to quit.
As we go into the new year, it is a great time to give this gift to your family and friends, or encourage someone in your life to quit. There are so many benefits to finally kicking that nasty habit.
Within hours of your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure will return closer to normal levels, and your blood circulation will also improve. Carbon monoxide levels, which are in your body as a by-product of cigarette smoke, will also begin to decrease, which in turn will increase the amount of oxygen in your blood to a normal level.
The risk for diseases, such as coronary artery disease, will begin to decrease too after your last cigarette. Your risk of having a heart attack will also decline.
You will notice you can smell things you haven't smelled before - and taste things in a way that you haven't tasted them before. It's because your nerve endings are regrowing!
Look in your bank account. Your pay check is regrowing too! Now that you aren't spending hundreds of dollars a month on packs of cigarettes.
After a month without cigarettes, the tiny hairs in your lungs will start to repair themselves. Because of this, your body will be able to fight off infections more efficiently.
I can't wait until Christmas next year, Dad, when I can tell you that your risk of heart disease has been lowered by HALF that of a smoker's.
Because of the gift you gave us, I'm hopeful that you'll be around 10 years from now, when your risk for having a stroke is the same as that of a non-smoker.
Fifteen years after your last cigarette, your risk of heart disease will be at the same level of that of a non-smoker too.
There are so many resources at your finger tips, available any time online - why not make 2017 the year you quit smoking? Why not make this Christmas the one your family remembers most by giving them the greatest gift?